How are wood fires authorised?

There are two steps a woodburner model needs to go through to be authorised:

The emissions and efficiency of the model are tested by a laboratory. The laboratory issues a test report which states the results of the test.

An independent body (Environment Canterbury or the Nelson City Council) physically checks the model against the test report and gives the model an authorisation number.

An alternative authorisation stream was introduced in June 2011 for models of burners that cannot be tested using the prescribed testing protocol. It enables burners to demonstrate compliance with the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality using a functionally equivalent method.